Norwegian Immigrant Bentwood Tine Box Trunk 1810 Stavanger, Norway

The trunk, marked with a date of 1810, is in solid condition and measures 23" X 14" X 11". Its weight is 12lbs.

Its sides are formed by one continuous piece of wood bent by a process in which the wood was steamed to make it pliable. It was then nailed together where the two ends overlapped. The points of these nails were then bent back on the inside of the trunk.

The weathered red exterior has white writing in a stylized script that is difficult to decipher. We are not sure what the four letters across the front of the trunk are, but believe they could be initials. The date that follows them is easier to read.

The trunk is specially crafted with a knob at each end. The lid is designed to fit into a niche around the first knob and has a hole at the other end that fits over the second knob. The lid is then secured by a metal pin that fits through a hole in the second knob.

At some point there were a couple of repairs to the trunk, of which we have provided photos. The lid had broken into two pieces and was mended with two wooden slats that were affixed by nails and flat head screws to the underside of the lid, securely rejoining the two pieces. There is also a flat head screw that replaced a nail that held one of the end knobs to the side.These repairs are not recent.

The previous owner of the trunk was able to tell us that it was brought to America from the town of Stavanger along the southern coast of Norway either in the 1830s or the 1840s. He had ancestors who immigrated in both decades, and he was not sure who had brought it.

Item ID: 111